Chapter 6 - THE SECOND SET OF BANK RECORDS
Daniel laughed.
It was sharp and defensive.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Chloe opened her handbag.
She removed a small envelope.
Daniel stepped toward her.
She backed away.
His father moved between them.
“Sit down.”
Daniel stared at him.
His father repeated.
“Sit.”
Daniel finally obeyed.
Chloe handed the envelope to Jennifer.
Inside were bank transfer confirmations.
Jennifer immediately recognized several amounts.
But the account numbers were different.
“These didn’t come from our joint account.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
“Daniel told me they came from his consulting company.”
Daniel spoke.
“They did.”
Chloe pointed toward one transfer.
“That company doesn’t exist.”
Daniel’s mother looked at him.
“What?”
Chloe continued.
“I tried to get documentation for Jacob’s insurance application.”
“The transfer account belongs to Reynolds Care Foundation.”
Daniel’s father went completely still.
Jennifer looked at him.
“What is that?”
His father answered.
“Our family charitable trust.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
His mother stared at him.
“The scholarship fund?”
Daniel said nothing.
His father stood.
“That money belongs to the foundation.”
Jennifer looked through the transfers.
Seven thousand.
Four thousand.
Nine thousand.
Smaller payments.
Daniel’s father took the papers.
His hands shook.
“You had access because I put you on the board.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“I moved money temporarily.”
“You stole from a charity.”
“I was going to repay it.”
“With what?”
Daniel snapped.
“My bonus.”
His father stared at him.
“What bonus?”
Silence.
Jennifer looked toward Daniel.
She remembered him talking for months about a promotion.
A partnership track.
A performance bonus large enough to pay off their mortgage.
Her private investigator had found no confirmation.
Jennifer reached deeper into her folder.
“I asked about that too.”
Daniel looked up.
She produced an email.
“Your company suspended your bonus in March.”
His boss, still standing near the ballroom exit, looked uncomfortable.
Daniel’s parents turned toward him.
Daniel whispered.
“You contacted my employer?”
Jennifer shook her head.
“My attorney subpoenaed financial disclosures related to the home equity loan.”
Daniel’s father read the email.
“Performance irregularities.”
He looked at his son.
“What irregularities?”
Daniel’s boss finally spoke.
“Daniel.”
Everyone turned.
He stepped closer.
“You should tell them.”
Daniel’s face became furious.
“This is not your business, Mark.”
“It became my business when accounting found client reimbursements being redirected.”
Jennifer’s stomach tightened.
Daniel stood again.
“Those allegations were resolved.”
Mark shook his head.
“No.”
“They were contained while the audit continued.”
Daniel’s mother sat down slowly.
Jennifer realized the affair had been only the first visible crack.
Daniel had not been rescuing Chloe with his money.
He did not have the money.
He had been pulling cash from every source he could access.
Their savings.
Their house.
His family’s charity.
Possibly his employer.
Jennifer looked at the man she had married.
“What were you trying to fund?”
Daniel did not answer.
Chloe whispered.
“The townhouse.”
Jennifer turned toward her.
Chloe continued.
“He told me he was buying it.”
Daniel stared at her.
Chloe’s voice hardened.
“He told me after the divorce, we would live there together.”
Jennifer felt the room go cold.
After the divorce.
Not if.
After.
May you like
Daniel had been planning an ending Jennifer had never been told was coming.
---
